Balch School silk mourning
picture, $10,500.
By Jackie Sideli
EAST PROVIDENCE, R. I. -To get to the most recent site of the
Nino Scotti Associated Appraisers, Inc auction, one had to go
through residential neighborhoods surrounding the city of
Providence. For this auction, the firm had rented a warehouse in
the rear of a semi-abandoned-looking industrial complex, in the
very off-the-beaten-track City of East Providence.
Scotti is a bit of an anomaly in the antiques business. He has
been running antiques sales for a very long time, and always
marches to his own drummer, in every way. Scotti does not charge
a buyer's premium, which is in his advertisement in bold print
thusly: "Of course no buyer's penalty ever charged". He does not
have very many sales at this point, no more than one a year. It
was worth waiting for, as it always is.
For this auction Scotti unearthed some rare, and very fine,
artifacts. He advertised that this sale had property for sale
from several Rhode Island towns, including Portsmouth, Little
Compton, South Kingston, Cranston and Barrington, as well as five
houses on Providence's fashionable East Side, and also Cape Cod,
Mass.
This was an old-fashioned sale, with tons of interesting and
quality material, and no catalog to refer to. There was no
buyer's preview the day of the sale, and in order to preview the
lots, one had to visit the all-day preview on Sunday (the sale
was held on a Monday).
The most striking item in this auction, was, by far, the huge,
and colorful Balch School silk embroidered double mourning
picture, which was "Wrought by Susan Harris 1807." In remarkable
condition, the sky was done in silk split stitch of deep azure
blue. There was considerable interest in this artifact, and
Scotti told me just prior to the sale that he had only seen
several from this school of this quality. Antiques dealer Gary
Langenbach from Kingston, Mass., went home with the lot, for
which he was delighted to pay $10,500.
The other period needlework picture, a Rhode Island house
sampler, by Harriet W. Johnson, 1829, with history sold for just
$650.
Other outstanding items that surfaced at this auction was the
large, black on black "very important Maria pot" as described in
the advertisement, bought from the famous potter herself by
Professor W.H. Kenerson. Native American specialist Mark
Brightman, from Lunenburg, Mass., who had come to sale to acquire
the pot, paid $2,100 for it.
There were several very stylish leaded glass bookcases, which
Scotti sold individually. One was the double, which was in great
condition and brought $1,600, from a buyer at the sale, and the
others were singles, and sold for $950, the pair.
"White Head Eagle, Male," $6,000.
The other outstanding thing offered at this auction was the large
folio Audubon colored lithograph, "White Head Eagle, Male," a "No
7 Plate 31," R Havell and Son, London, 1828, which opened for
bidding $5,000, sold to a left bid for $6,000.
Several times during the auction Scotti would scold the crowd,
"You're asleep!" when he felt something was being sold too
reasonably. Auctioneer Ed Tessier, from MV Auction Company in
Cape Cod, bought a lot of diminutive bird carvings for $650.
Tessier also underbid the scrimshaw tooth, with carving on both
sides, with one side depicting a tall ship. The tooth sold to a
left bid for $1,800.
This was a very intriguing auction, with tons of material, fresh
from houses. In the dark, poorly lit auction hall, it was hard to
see, and indeed, this made it all the more attractive to those
who love the hunt. Attendance was good, the hall was not
completely full, but there was a pretty substantial group of
dealers and collectors who had come, hoping to go home with some
good "stuff." And they did.
